Council Meeting: May 22, 2025

What happened at the May 22nd Council Meeting?

Watch the facebook LIVEstream here: 

(Facebook will only keep a video up for 30 days)  

You can view the video on youtube here.

Read the agenda here

TRANSPARENCY  ALERT:

I placed an item on the agenda [Item 14] asking the Council to approve routinely posting a public copy of the Council Agenda PACKET for each meeting on the City’s website. The PACKET includes a lot more information and is already required to be released to the public on request (subject to certain redactions governed by the TX Public Information Act), but that involves waiting for the request then sending it off to only the requestor– not posting it to the City’s site. This motion would have streamlined the process and made the City’s communications more immediate, routine, widespread, and cost effective. My motion died for lack of a “second”-- not a single City Council Member supported this basic increased transparency that is already practiced in LOTS of other cities across Texas.  I would  urge people to contact them, but they do not have contact information posted publicly anywhere  that I have seen. 

Looking at our Library:

One of the points I brought up at the May 22nd meeting was establishing a Volunteer Library Advisory Board since the City had budgeted almost $200,000 to its staffing and operations.

During the subsequent Departmental Reports, our Librarian mentioned a donation BY the "Volunteer Library Advisory Board" and I asked her about that. You can watch the discussion in the video.

I had asked the previous Librarian about whether the City *had* an Advisory Board and was told No.

There have been no notices posted on any social media, paper, or website that I have seen for any meetings (in the last year that I have started watching City operations). 

The foundational part of a Public meeting is.... we don't have to ask: 

they are noticed and generally easy to find.

In further conversation, I made it clear that I am looking for a PUBLIC Advisory board, not just a private foundation Library Board. The entire point of a PUBLIC Advisory Board is that it is legally noticed and generally follows the Texas Open Meetings Act so there is public transparency in how the peoples' tax dollars are being spent.

I have requested more documents about the City's contractual obligations with the Library as well as getting more info from the City Secretary, and look forward to working with folks to bring Library Operations more into the public sphere so folks can see exactly how much is happening, who all is involved/responsible for the success of our library, and how folks can jump in and support the work that is done there for the community.

If anyone in the City Limits is interested in more info regarding this, please reach out and let me know!

Whitney received an $18,200 fine from TCEQ over water compliance issues.

Details are forthcoming, but the most concerning  part to ME is that every council member knew about the water problems we’ve had for decades but still chose to blow $50,000 on legally-unnecessary cameras for the library earlier this year and jack up spending without a plan for SOLVING the water problem. The immediate “solution” is a revenue bond:  Stay tuned for more info on that.

Pending Enforcement Action - 

Click to read: TCEQ Case Number 65586

City Budget Work$hop Dates: 

Tuesdays: August 12 and 26.

Time To Be Determined, 

but will be several hours long during the day at City Hall. 

Please feel free to attend and watch, ask questions, and listen to the reasons given for how the city wants to spend YOUR money. 

I have pledged to not vote for a budget that in my opinion is 

not lean enough, and I will not vote for a property tax increase. 

Residents need tax RELIEF.

CITY BUDGET SURVEY

At this time, only 20 residents have completed the budget survey.

Please click over and share your opinions!  Use the empty boxes available to share your thoughts and opinions on a variety of things: the election, what projects you want to see pursued,  how low you want taxes dropped, etc. 

The survey ends June 1st!